Meet the Press interviews during 2019: on Civil Rights

Andrew Yang: Exposing stereotypes helps dispel them

Q: One pundit writes, "Seeing Yang up on the debate stage should've been a thrilling milestone as a Taiwanese-American. But it was hard to feel proud. He felt that the most practical use of his identity was as a joke."

YANG: I am very proud of my heritage and very proud of being the first Asian American man to run for president. Americans are smart enough to know a joke when they hear it. Dragging these myths into the light makes them less powerful and helps dispel them.

Source: NBC Meet the Press on 2019 Democratic primary Nov 3, 2019

Cory Booker: Not enough to say "not a hatemonger myself"

Martin Luther King said what we have to repent is not just the vitriolic words and violent actions of bad people, but the appalling silence and inaction of good people. There is a complicity in the president's hatred that undermines the goodness and decency of Americans, regardless of what party. It's not enough to say that, "I'm not a hatemonger myself." If you are not actively working against hate, calling it out, you are complicit in what is going on. Source: Meet the Press interview for 2019 Democratic primary Aug 4, 2019

Cory Booker: Next president must talk openly and honestly about race

The next president needs to be someone who can talk openly and honestly about race with vulnerability. Because none of us are perfect. That nominee needs to be able to pull this country together. Because we need to reconcile. When it comes to difficult issues with race, if you can't talk about your own development on these issues, I think it's very hard to lead our country forward, so that we actually can deal with our past and rise to a better common cause and common future. Source: NBC News Meet the Press 2019 interview Jun 30, 2019

Julian Castro: Passed ground-breaking rule furthering fair housing

The record of all candidates, including Vice President Biden's, is relevant. His stance on busing that he allowed local communities to make a decision, essentially relying on state's rights, he's going to have to explain why that was good. We've had very painful history in trying to desegregate communities. When I was at HUD we passed the most ground-breaking rule since the Fair Housing Act called Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing. That pain is still there in this country. Source: Meet the Press 2019 interview series Jun 30, 2019

Amy Klobuchar: Government must address integrity of elections

We're going to see Attorney General Barr this next week, in front of the Judiciary Committee, on which I serve. And I'm going to be asking him what is he doing about Russia? Because to me, that's the key thing. We have an election coming up in 2020. It doesn't matter if you're a Democrat or a Republican. You want to have a fair election. Source: Meet the Press 2019 interview of 2020 presidential hopefuls Apr 28, 2019

Pete Buttigieg: Address racial divide by showing up & building trust

We worked hard on civil rights training, on implicit bias training. But also on getting our police officers to do foot patrols, to walk the neighborhoods. To show up not just when there's an emergency, but when there's a fun fair or a church event or a block party. Whenever we've had a moment or an incident that has threatened to divide us racially in our city, we've made sure that we invest in the face time that it takes to reestablish trust. Source: Meet the Press 2019 interview of 2020 presidential hopefuls Apr 7, 2019

Amy Klobuchar: Reparations can mean investing in communities

I believe we have to invest in those communities that have been so hurt by racism. It doesn't have to be a direct pay for each person. But what we can do is, invest in those communities, acknowledge what's happened. And that means better education. That means looking at, for our whole economy: community college, one-year degrees, minimum wage, childcare, making sure that we have that shared dream of opportunity for all Americans. Source: Meet the Press 2019 interview of presidential hopefuls Mar 17, 2019

The above quotations are from Meet the Press interviews during 2019 (Chuck Todd interviewing candidates for 2019-2020 races). Click here for definitions & background information on Civil Rights. Click here for other issues (main summary page). Click here for more quotes by Cory Booker on Civil Rights. Click here for more quotes by Chris Christie on Civil Rights.
*2020 Presidential contenders on Civil Rights:*
	*Democrats running for President:* Sen.Michael Bennet (D-CO) V.P.Joe Biden (D-DE) Mayor Mike Bloomberg (I-NYC) Gov.Steve Bullock (D-MT) Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D-IN) Sen.Cory Booker (D-NJ) Secy.Julian Castro (D-TX) Rep.John Delaney (D-MD) Rep.Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) Sen.Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) Gov.Deval Patrick (D-MA) Sen.Bernie Sanders (I-VT) CEO Tom Steyer (D-CA) Sen.Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) Marianne Williamson (D-CA) CEO Andrew Yang (D-NY) *2020 Third Party Candidates:* Rep.Justin Amash (L-MI) CEO Don Blankenship (C-WV) Howie Hawkins (G-NY) ~~Gov.Gary Johnson~~(L-NM) ~~Howard Schultz~~(I-WA) Gov.Jesse Ventura (I-MN)	*Republicans running for President:* ~~Sen.Ted Cruz~~(R-TX) ~~Gov.Larry Hogan~~ (R-MD) ~~Gov.John Kasich~~(R-OH) V.P.Mike Pence(R-IN) ~~Gov.Mark Sanford~~ (R-SC) Pres.Donald Trump(R-NY) Rep.Joe Walsh (R-IL) Gov.Bill Weld(R-MA & L-NY) *2020 Withdrawn Democratic Candidates:* Sen.Stacey Abrams (D-GA) Mayor Bill de Blasio (D-NYC) Sen.Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) Sen.Mike Gravel (D-AK) Sen.Kamala Harris (D-CA) Gov.John Hickenlooper (D-CO) Gov.Jay Inslee (D-WA) Mayor Wayne Messam (D-FL) Rep.Seth Moulton (D-MA) Rep.Beto O`Rourke (D-TX) Rep.Tim Ryan (D-CA) Adm.Joe Sestak (D-PA) Rep.Eric Swalwell (D-CA)
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Page last updated: Jan 12, 2020